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tv   The War Room With Jennifer Granholm  Current  September 26, 2012 9:00pm-10:00pm PDT

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damage. a new gallup tracking poll has the president opening up a 6-point lead over romney. as mitt romney fumbled his way down the campaign trail. so first this lack luster rnc convention set him back. and then he completely bungled his response to the libya situation and that didn't help. but then came the biggest mistake of all. 47% rant caught on tape. now, national polls are not always the best way to understand the state of the election. and for that, you've got to go to the swing states. and sorry, mitt, but the pictures there are not much better. a "new york times" cbs quinnipiac poll shows that big margins exist among likely swing state voters. in pennsylvania, the president is up big. 54% to romney's 42%. he leads romney 53% to 44% in florida and in ohio, he leads by a full 10 points! 53% to 43%. the last one is really important
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because if history is any guide the road to the white house really does run through ohio. no republican has ever won the white house without winning the state of ohio. no democrat has done it for over a half a century. so both candidates are in the state today and not believe me, for the first time. in fact, they have made these two candidates a combined 68 visits there this but today, romney was trying out a brand new strategy. which was expressing emotion. he replaced his usual stories about small business owners succeeding all on their own with stories about people struggling economically. >> i've been across this country, my heartaches for the people i've seen. i was yesterday with a woman who was emotional and she said look, i've been out of work since may. she was in her 50s. i don't see any prospects. can you help me? >> jennifer: now as hard as it is for some to picture mitt
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romney's heart actually aching for people especially people in the dreaded 47% i actually think that this is a good strategy for him. he has to show emotion. he has to show that he can empathize with everyday americans and that's something that actually president obama doesn't really need to prove because voters seem to understand that he cares. but what they're less sure of is the president's plan for the future and so why today the president laid out very specific economic proposals such as double exports, create a million new manufacturing jobs. >> obama: right now, i'm asking you to choose a better path than the one that my opponents offer. one that helps big factories and small businesses double their exports. that sells more goods stamped with made in america than the rest of the world. we can create one million new manufacturing jobs in the next four years with the right
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policies. >> jennifer: so will the president's argument be enough to help him win ohio as did he, very narrowly in the last election? we'll see. but if we can learn anything from the new polls it's that when it comes to this presidential race, things can change in an instant. for more on the battle for ohio and what's at stake in this election, we turn to washington and perhaps the liberal, progressive in ohio, dennis kucinich. congressman, welcome back inside "the war room." >> governor, good to be with you. >> jennifer: all right. so romney's now showing a new strategy in ohio which is showing empathy. is that going to work in ohio? >> he's got obviously a long way to go. it is not just about empathy. it is about articulating what would he do different. will he bring jobs back to the country that have been lost by china trade deals and other trade deals. would he strengthen american
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manufacturing, stop the outsourcing? he needs to be very specific if he has any chance and right now it looks like president obama because of his support for the auto industry, the steel industry has done well, because of that, it's going to be very difficult for romney to make up that ground. >> jennifer: ohio's unemployment rate, as we all know is about a point below the national average. do you think that ohioans are feeling that giving the president some credit for that? >> i tell you, there are some marginal gains that he has because of that. but you know, just -- a word of caution and i think you've had that before you began speaking with me. these elections can change. i think that turnout is going to be a tremendous factor. president obama has an advantage. but his vote has to come out. i remember in the kerry campaign 2004, we had this enormous rally, all of this momentum.
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it looked like ohio was going to change the outcome of the election. it ended up where bush flipped it on election day. it was shocking. also on election day i remember back to 2000 where the gore campaign wrote off ohio. the election tightened considerably to where they regretted that they didn't play in ohio right up until the end. so ohio can break your heart. it can resurrect your campaign. my advice to president ohio already 29 times but also the ground game, get the vote out. that's really going to be the determining factor. >> jennifer: well, for sure. and there's a lot of reports out there that the republican ground game is extremely strong as well. so nobody can take anything for granted. one of the interesting tensions on the republican side is the sort of schism between what mitt romney is selling in terms of the agony that's out there and
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what republican governor kasich is selling which is that ohio's on the come back. do you congressman, give republican governor john kasich credit for ohio's bounce up? >> well, no. he's very capable but i think that the one thing that he's done to prepare for president obama's strong emergence in ohio particularly this year is he went after republican parties, including police and fire and tried bargaining rights. people in ohio, in a stunning defeat for governor kasich voted that proposal down. but you know i think that the unions in ohio are still very strong and their membership is feeling what they feel would be the wrath of a certain type of economics that governor kasich espouses that mr. romney would of course, follow. so i think there's that factor
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in ohio you have to remember. ohio next to wisconsin was the calderon of this battle between workers trying to have -- >> jennifer: you think the residual battle will carry forward until november? that emotion that people felt? >> i think so. >> jennifer: i want to get you into something more specific because this is being played right now in ohio, advertisement that romney is running on tv. take a listen. >> policies of the current administration's got is attacking my livelihood. these mines down. >> we have 250 years of coal. why wouldn't we use it? utility bills are up. people wonder how they're going to have a brighter future if they can't see how they can make it to the end of the next month. >> jennifer: very interesting because coal is an industry that's a union industry.
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is president obama to blame for coal industry layoffs? will that ad be effective? >> it can be answered -- to answer your question, no. look, here's a copy of "wall street journal" business section a couple -- about a week or so ago. coal-fired plants mothballed by glass gluck. there is a tremendous amount of natural gas out there. that's why coal-fired plants are being -- it mentions here, one in ohio, listen to this. they have first energy corp plans to idle the coal-fired power plant on the ohio and this is the samous power plant, a giant plan because soft demand for electricity and competition from gas-fired plants that are cheaper to run and cleaner to operate. so the facts are not in favor ofú governor romney in that commercial and as a matter of fact, if people rely on coal-fired electricity right
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now, that power is more expensive to produce than the market rate. as a matter of fact, in some cases, could be double than what the market is right now. so governor romney had better check his facts before he runs that commercial across the state. >> jennifer: obviously the energy issue is going to be a big one in terms of jobs. the production tax credit in terms of wind energy. ohio's position and growing that industry enormously. the number one wind energy growth state in the country. romney is against the production tax credit. what do you think of president obama's policies, including the all of the above strategy with respect to natural gas? >> well, i will say that first of all he did the right thing in trying to invest in wind and solar. now, some of the investments didn't work out but their failure rate wasn't any -- was certainly lower than what would
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be obtained from investing in nuclear. nuclear is a -- is dead on wall street. and the government's trying to prop it up with loan guarantees. i don't agree with that. i agree with the solar investment. even president obama, at the convention, if you look at his speech, he mentions coal. now, as far as natural gas the glut is there. there are issues with fracking. it cannot be ignored. and so that's -- you know, but the economics that are underlying this election actually are arguing against coal. i think the long-term prospects that we ought to give the coal miners a enable them to live their lives and thank them for their service to the country but coal is a loser in every way right now. environmentally, in terms of health. in terms of the global climate. and in terms of the cost of electricity. >> jennifer: there is certainly an opportunity for more clean energy jobs in a whole array of areas.
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>> right. >> jennifer: congressman thank you so much for joining us inside "the war room," giving us a feel for the lay of the land in ohio. even though you're joining us from ohio. obviously this is your backyard. appreciate your joining us. >> thank you. >> jennifer: you bet. i need to hit the pause button for one moment because dear viewers, even though the president is doing well, as the congressman just said, even though he's doing well, i'm about to get you really mad because here's why we cannot celebrate. the president is going to lose the first debate next week. he will lose it. mark my words. first off he's obviously a brilliant man. but the not a great debater. you know it. you've seen him hmming and hawing in debates four years ago. >> hillary -- states that she wants -- states that she wants to mandates healthcare coverage but she's not garnishing people's wages to make sure that
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they have it. she is -- >> go ahead. >> she is not enforcing this mandate. >> jennifer: he is a great president. he is a great orator but he's just not a great debater. mitt romney, by contrast, he's just in practice. remember he won 16 out of 20 debates in the primaries. granted, his opponents were all occupants of the clown car but still. his debating experience is fresh. he's in shape. he's effective at making strategic points plus romney has more to lose and he knows that he has change the race dynamics and believe me, make no mistake, he is practicing 20 ways to do that. while the president is on his way to debate camp in nevada starting sunday, he's already canceled some of his debate prep because of events in the middle
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east. that cancellation should worry you! very important why the president is going to lose the first debate on tuesday is because the media cannot stand a lopsided race. the media needs a contest. if the debate is declared a wash, that's a win for the president and the media is not going to let it happen. they need the pendulum to swing back! it's why the president has got to get to the base camp right now. he needs this first debate to be a wash. it really is unrealistic to think the president is going to wipe the floor with romney. anybody who thinks that has just not got enough sleep. romney's strategy is going to be to put the president back on his heels, to cause him to hmm and haw, to make him look professorial or weak or defensive. he's going to have romney, specific attacks to do just that. so the president needs to prepare, prepare, prepare for
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what will be romney's perfectly-rehearsed, incoming scuds. so bottom line, mr. president, i know you don't want to do it. i know it is like swallowing terrible medicine, believe me, i know it is a painful unpleasant experience but mr. president for the good of the nation, get to the debate camp immediately. no more cancellations! with all due respect sir. all right. we're just getting started here on a wednesday night. coming up, colorado senator mark udall on republican efforts to take the wind out of clean energy. also, a rarity for us here in "the war room." somebody who for mitt romney. we're going to be speaking with one of his top foreign policy advisors. later in the program, we'll tell you how unless you're a member of the 1%, the supreme court under the leadership of chief justice john roberts is not on your side.
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>> jennifer: the closest mitt romney is ever going to get to a renewable energy policy is when he recycles his tired old lines about the president's energy plan and he did it today again in ohio. >> romney: you know he put $90 billion, $90 billion in the stimulus, went into businesses that he thinks have the greatest prospects like solyndra and fis ker and he likes to pick winners and losers or as a friend said to me, no, he picks losers. >> jennifer: his party and he, romney, are already picking losers. they are behind the $7 billion in subsidies that oil companies get every year. don't you think that's a winner for them? in their tax policy when the president unveiled plans to curb
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those subsidies, the industry, the oil industry's top lobbyist, jack girard called it discriminatory. what? and now, the republicans have taken it one step further they've made the claim the outrageous claim that they're fighting a war on coal. a war on coal. the industry has gotten an estimated $17 billion in coal subsidies in the past six years and they think the obama administration is waging a war on coal. and yet, the very last bill that the house passed this session was actually called the stop the war on coal act which rolls back environmental regulations on the coal industry. now, massachusetts democratic marquee had this priceless response. >> when the republicans say there is a war on coal, well, in a market sense yes, there is a war. and the same sense that when we
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started using macs and pcs, it was a war on typewriters. in the same sense that the horseless carriage was a war on horses. and the same sense that refrigerators were a war on salted meats. >> jennifer: i just love that! so well, congress is perfectly happy to pick winners when it comes to fossil fuels like coal and oil as for renewables, not so much. congress has decided not as we have discussed here on the show to extend the production tax credit for wind energy even though that credit has helped boost the fledgling wind sector which has already created more than 35,000 jobs since the credit went into effect and still romney has called the clean energy investments a boondoggle. his campaign said that he would allow that wind credit to expire. one of the major beneficiaries of the tax credit is the swing state of colorado where as many as 5,000 of those wind energy
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jobs have been created. the president is now leading in colorado by a very narrow margin, just two points according to real clear politics. mitt romney was in colorado monday and actually talked about energy independence and renewable energy. even though his policies were very -- would very clearly shrink the energy sector to the point you could drown it in a bathtub. now for more on how clean energy is generating jobs and strengthening the colorado economy, we'll turn to denver and colorado democratic senator mark udall. senator, so great to you have inside "the war room" tonight. >> hey governor, great to see you. great to hear you and you remember senator kerry pointed out that governor romney needed to finish the debate with himself before he week and that's no more apparent than it is on this energy front. the republican ticket is on the wrong side of history as you pointed out. isn't ed markey marvelous in the
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way he set up what the choice is. yeah. >> stephanie: so senator udall, just talk about from your perspective as senator from colorado, how is the energy issue playing out in colorado? >> we're in all of the above energy state. we have coal. we're producing a lot of natural gas. we have some oil. we have abundant wind and solar and geo thermal so we're pursuing all of those options. one of the great success stories in colorado has been our wind energy industry. we have four facilities here, manufacturing everything from the blades to the towers to the nestles. this will be close to your heart. 8,000 parts are needed in a wind turbine. i don't know how many parts go into an automobile but the supply chain dynamic is really an exciting one here in colorado. lo and behold, mitt romney comes said he would let the production tax credit expire because somehow we're weighting the scales on the side of renewables. his policy would ruin our wind
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industry. frankly, he's not running into political winds of the wrong kind because of his position on the tax credit. i don't get it. >> jennifer: let me ask you about that. >> jennifer: i want to ask you about that because there are a lot of republicans who are also on board with the wind subsidies, the tax credit to create new industry, at least for a period of time while the industry gets embedded here in the united states. more of the wind energy development in republican districts is present. 81% of the wind energy development is in republican districts. so don't you think there could be bipartisan support for the production tax credit? >> there is in the senate -- senator grassley, senator moran and senator brown have been supportive. what is the production tax credit do for rural communities? it is a cash predictable every year. most of the wind blows in agricultural areas. we also have manufacturing states like yours in the midwest
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that are dying to regain a manufacturing footing and so again, i just -- this is -- beyond tone-deaf on the part of the romney campaign. let me say one other thing the wind industry doesn't expect to have the subsidy forever. they want it phased out. but it is a fledgling industry. it needs these incentives. they've been helpful in building our manufacturing base back to where we want it to be. >> jennifer: you personally have been testifying dozens of times on the senate floor about this. and do you think that in lame duck, it can get renewed? what's the likelihood of getting this production tax credit passed? >> it better get renewed in the lame duck. by waiting that long, we will have hurt the industry because a lot of projects are being put on hold, as you know, and what we need to do is extend, not for a year in the lame duck, for two years and make it that will help the industry,
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have the certainty that we hear republicans call for all the time. you hear this, there is uncertainty this and uncertainty that. and this is enormous amount -- the other thing i want to say governor, you think about all of the policies that romney proposes although it is mostly in general statements. the lack of the ptc will cost us jobs that we already have in hand. why would we let the jobs slip through our fingers and export jobs in china? it makes no sense. >> jennifer: according to the database, house republicans have actually voted 315 time this congress to block some kind of action to address climate change and to undermine environmental regulations and protections. i don't know how we can get voters to recognize the obstructionism, especially when it comes to jobs and throw the bums out. maybe i should ask you this -- should there be a scientific politician? >> yes, there should be, number one.
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number two, you remember in the bush era, there was this faith-based approach to policymaking and then there were many of us saying we ought to be reality-based and science-based. we need to go back to a science and reality-based approach to policymaking. and by the way, i sit on the armed services committee and who leads the fight on the climate change in a smart and 21st century way. it is the military because they know that energy security will benefit us. that there will be environmental benefits and that the job creation will help get our economy back. % >> jennifer: they're defending our country to make us independent from foreign oil too. it is lives in our military. i gotta go. but senator i just so appreciate you joining me inside "the war room." you're thoughtful. you're a battler for the things that are important. hopefully we can get you more help after the election. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >>. >> jennifer: up next, the foreign policy achievements that he can
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claim. but what about mitt romney's foreign policy credentials other than insulting the british at the olympics? and there's a new movie coming out about islamophobia in america. we're going to meet the film's codirector. >> responsibility for things they could have never done. the [ voice of dennis ] ...safe driving bonus check? every six months without an accident, allstate sends a check. ok. [ voice of dennis ] silence. are you in good hands?
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admitted that that look, we were able to keep a lot of the folks because of the stimulus. >> bill: absolutely. again, do you great work, judd. thank you. all of your colleagues at think progress. we'll see you again next
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>> jennifer: i want to compare the foreign policies used by governor romney and mitt romney. mitt romney had this to say in the aftermath of the attack on the american embassy in libya. >> romney: terrible course for america to stand in -- an apology for our values that our grounds are being attacked and being breached that the first response from the united states must be outrage at the breach of the sovereignty of our nation. an apology for america's values
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>> jennifer: now even many republicans actually admit that romney came off as not quite ready for prime time i'll say by trying to politicize the tragedy in libya. let's listen on the other hand to president obama. he was speaking before the u.n. general assembly yesterday. >> obama: it is time to lead the call of violence and the politics of division behind. on so many issues. we face a choice between the promise of the future or the prisons of the past. and we cannot afford to get it wrong. we must seize this moment. america stands ready to work with all who are willing to embrace a better future. >> jennifer: interesting contrast. so let's dive deeper into the comparison with one of mitt romney's top foreign policy advisers, robert o'brien mr. o'brien has an impressive international affairs resume including a stint as cochairman of the state department's efforts to reform afghanistan's
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justice system. robert is currently the managing partner at the fox law firm. coming to us tonight from los angeles. >> good to be with you. go bears. >> jennifer: i knew you were a berkeley guy even though you're working with mitt romney. i'll give you a few points for that. let me ask you from the start were you one of the republicans who thought that mitt romney should have reacted a little bit differently to the tragedy in libya? >> well, the reaction that you played earlier was the governor responding to the breach of the embassy in cairo and what's interesting is the governor's reaction was the exact same reaction that hillary clinton had, our secretary of state when she told embassy cairo not to release the statement that they released. secretary clinton thought it was wrong. she thought it was weak. and governor romney had the exact same instincts as secretary clinton. the real question here is why
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was there a cover-up or this confusion at the white house over what happened because we know it was terrorist attack and yet for nine days, susan rice and others went out and said this was spontaneous mob violence related to. >>tube clip. we know that's not true. why was susan rice out on the sunday shows making those statements and trying to cover up what actually happened. that's the real question to look at here. >> jennifer: right. it seems like you're talking about two different obviously incidents. one is the egyptian embassy and the one is the libyan compound. there were two different things but the question i think is -- on everybody's mind is it is always difficult when you have an international incident to speak too soon. that probably could be said of the administration as well as of governor romney before he had gathered all of the facts. i guess the question that many people have is it proper to be criticizing an administration in
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the middle of a crisis? >> well, look, we're in the middle of a presidential campaign and the foreign policy is something that's critical to to be discussed. it is going to be discussed by the white house. it's going to be discussed by governor romney. but my point is governor romney came out with a very strong no apologies reaction and it was the same reaction that hillary clinton had, the person that wasn't on the same page was president obama. but one thing i do want to say and i think we all have this close to our hearts right now is to extend condolences to ambassador stevens' family, sean smith, glen doherty and tyrone woods who died, brave american foreign service officers and former military folks who were doing our bidding in libya as americans. that's not a partisan issue. >> jennifer: absolutely. totally agree with you on that. totally agree with you on that. many of governor romney's foreign policy advisers including yourself worked for
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president george w. bush. do you think that if governor romney is elected president we're going to be seeing a similar kinds of policy as we saw in the bush years? >> i think we'll see governor policies. it is not unusual when a new administration comes into place and if governor romney is lucky enough to be president romney, we'll have folks in the bush administration just like in this administration, we have plenty of folks in the clinton administration. governor romney's stand is much closer to ronald reagan's, that's a peace through strength position. he believes in deterrence. in the reagan years although we had a strong military and a navy of 600 ships we weren't often involved in foreign conflicts because of the deterrent effective of a strong america. i also think governor romney is going to focus on economic issues vis-a-vis china and as he discussed yesterday -- >> jennifer: before we move over to china peace through strength obviously we got into a couple of wars under president bush and there was a bush doctrine of spreading american
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diplomacy around -- democracy around the world. is that similar to what romney is going to be putting forward because it is difficult to see what his because he hasn't been that specific yet. >> well, i think what happened with president bush is we were hit on 9-11 and over 3,000 americans were killed as a result of 9-11. so that's why we were in afghanistan and certainly president bush was concerned like others, that there were weapons of mass destruction in iraq. it turned out that potentially wasn't the case. although maybe they were in syria. i think governor romney will be focused as president on building a robust american economy. having trade and having a peace through strength foreign policy and hopefully that deters us from ending up in war. having said that, look, we're the shiny city on the hill. we've had a bipartisan consensus from president truman and president kennedy president johnson. ronald reagan. that we believe in american values and we're going to stand strong for those values. >> jennifer: for sure.
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and i think everybody wants to do that regardless of which party you're in. you want to stand strong for american values. but mitt romney has been saying and he continues to say that the president has been going around the world apologizing for america's values when people who have checked us out like in "the washington post," politifact said that's a four pinocchio statement. that's an utter lie. the president hasn't gone around the world apologizing. can you give me one example of when the president apologizeed? >> we've seen in cairo and we've seen even in the statement that came out of embassy cairo after the attack that this super uber -- >> jennifer: you think that was an apology for america? >> this super conciliatory approach that if we somehow -- you know, are super understanding, we bow down to foreign leaders we apologize for mistakes -- >> jennifer: wait, what you're suggesting though is that we should -- america sort of absorbs that ridiculous movie.
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that it is okay with us. that we don't distance ourselves from something because it didn't come from american government, that movie. >> it certainly wasn't. that's why we shouldn't it. that youtube clip has nothing to do with the u.s. government. >> jennifer: isn't that the point? >> the point is we believe in freedom of speech. >> jennifer: we do. i'm so sorry. they're telling me i gotta go. i gotta have you back. love the discussion. i really appreciate your willingness to come on. romney foreign policy adviser robert o'brien. we only scratched the surface. coming up, many progressives want to believe the supreme court's decision to uphold obama care means it is becoming more liberal. sorry to disappointment you. it is not. a reality check is next. folks like glenn beck want you to believe that muslims are out to destroy america. a new movie dispels this terrible stereotype.
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jennifer speaks truth to power. >>the bottom line is we need an amendment. >>now it's your turn. connect with "the war room" jennifer granholm. >>it's a call to arms.
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make your voice heard. >> jennifer: here's a fact that we came across that should cause you to lose some sleep. there are currently 897 super pacs. as of this moment. super pacs are, of course, unaffiliated political groups like karl rove's american crossroads which can spend limitless amounts of money to influence elections. we have the supreme courts unprecedent and dangerous citizens united ruling to thank for that. our next guest argues that the citizens united ruling is emblematic of a new era potentially in american politics and jure id prudence. free speech shapes our elections and our outcomes.
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coming to us from washington, d.c. to warn us about the dangers of citizens unite and this wild era of the supreme court is jamie raskin, jamie is maryland state senator and law professor at american new article about the supreme court in the latest issue of the nation. jamie, thank you so much for joining us inside "the war room." >> the pleasure is mine, jennifer. >> jennifer: all right. tell us then how citizens united has made the united states a nation of corporations essentially and not people. >> well, citizens united transformed our politics in the same way that bush versus gore took the last decade from us in essence by deciding the election for that one lucky guy won the election because of the court's intervention. citizens united is really an effort to remake all of american politics in the image of large
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corporate wealth and large corporate power. we had essentially a wall of separation between corporate treasury wealth and public elections for many decades and the supreme court had said as far back as chief justice john marshall in the dartmouth as recently as chief justice rehnquist and other conservative justices like justice white that a corporation is not a person armed with political rights but it is an artificial entity that's an instrumentality of the state that's used for purposes of accumulating wealth, investing wealth and it does a great job at that. but we should never allow the corporations to breach the barrier between economics and politics. but that's precisely what the 5-4 decision in citizens united did. corporations can use their treasuries as political slush funds essentially to their favorite candidates. >> jennifer: so essentially what you've said -- free speech does not depend upon the source
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of the speech. i can have free speech. the corporation can have free speech. can a municipality have free speech? can a church have that kind of free speech where you might see you know, a mayor directing tax dollars or a pastor directing church dollars to a candidate because they believe that it further their interest? >> the new doctrine is that the identity of the speaker is irrelevant and that all political speeches protected equally so you can spend whatever money you've got on it. that would mean that the city of new york or miami or chicago could put money into a local election to tell people who to vote for. it would mean that churches would have the power to put money directly into political campaigns on behalf of candidates. but of course, the court -- it doesn't mean it when it says the identity of the speaker is irrelevant. there are a lot of disfavored speakers in the conservative court like public school students public employees
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whistle-blowers. >> jennifer: they've put limits on -- just quickly, you know, a lot of conservatives want us to believe that citizens united promotes free speech. why does it actually limit speech because of the volume that can be purchased? >> well, the first thing you've gotta see is that corporate executives already had a total right to spend whatever they wanted of their own money just like corporate shareholders could do. all that citizens united ceo can take money directly out of the corporate treasury and put it into politics for the management's chosen candidate. it doesn't expand free speech rights at all. it just allows corporate money to enter politics but what that means is they can buy up all of the tv time and squeeze everybody else out. that's precisely what's happening. by the way, it is not just super pacs. it was is 501c4s where we're getting foreign corporate money pouring in. >> jennifer: we have done a lot on this show about the
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organizations that sound like social benefit and actually it is really a social detriment because of the amount of money that's being spent on behalf of corporations. jamie raskin coming to us from washington, d.c., thank you for joining us inside "the war room." i'm going to have you to have you back. i want to get to the solution and that's your next visit to "the war room." up next, find out what happens when a group of muslim american comedians take their act to america's deep south. it is all chronicled in a new documentary the muslims are coming. the film's codirector joins us next. this is "the war room" and it is only on current tv. (vo) always outspoken, now unleashed. joy behar. >> on my next show, actress, activist, and flyest of the fly girls, rosie perez, generates so much heat, al gore will have to look into it.
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[ nervous ] i hope no one recognizes us... you...you think these disguises will... no. [ male announcer ] salty. sweet. and impossible to resist. >> jennifer: an inflammatory youtube movie about the prophet mohammed fueled anti-american violence in the middle east which, of course, resulted in
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the tragic deaths of four americans as we've discussed. here at home, images from the media helped to further stereotypes of angry muslims. can another film about a group of muslims, comedians on tour help to ease tensions and dispel some myths? >> a live muslim is here to answer your questions. >> why doesn't the muslim community be more proactive denouncing terrorism? >> why do i have to prove to you i'm not dangerous. >> is your conflict going to prove you're the model minority. >> oh, wait, what about those -- >> jennifer: from the documentary the muslims are coming which premieres next month, the film's codirector, dean obeidallah joins us to talk about combating islamophobia with comedy. so glad you're here. >> i'm glad to be here. >> jennifer: are we anise lamb phobic nation? >> i don't think so.
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we went to the deep south the far west. did all of the shows for free. we wanted to meet people. to be honest, it is a fringe. it is a small fringe of people that hold islamophobia. there are certain politicians on the right to be quite honest who are fueling it. >> jennifer: name names? >> michele bachmann. joe walsh in illinois. alan west in florida. >> jennifer: you're naming all of the tea party members. >> maybe coincidence, maybe not. exactly. we're happy to be the day. >> jennifer: you're a prolific communicator as well. in addition to speaking. you have a column that you talked about what happened with the "newsweek" cover which was inflammatory to begin with. you called -- there was a call from the magazine for people to discuss the coverage of islamic or muslim rage from twitter with the hash tag muslim rage. so i want to take a look at some of the responses that were answers to your call. first one, this is muslim rage.
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that moment when you discover you're out of coffee beans and your only choice is freeze-dried instant coffee or none. outrageous rage. >> i'm getting outrageous. some rage. i have to contain myself. >> jennifer: when you're trying to focus on your prayer at the mosque and someone's phone goes off blasting gangnan style. >> "newsweek" said the hash tag, talk about how angry muslims are and muslims young ones on twitter use satire. people are laughing at your opponent. it is greatest thing. and so -- >> jennifer: that's what the movie is all about. >> it is going down. going south, going west, meeting people. we set up a big booth in georgia. alabama, same thing. i'll tell you this, people had questions for us. people walking up going get out of here. get back to your country. i'm from new jersey. >> jennifer: you can tell the
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accent. >> we were out there doing this. it will be the awesome film festival in october. >> jennifer: i have to share one more of these tweets which was so funny. this is another response to muslim rage. lost your kid jihad at the airport. can't yell for him. >> you would be tackled. you cannot yell jihad at the airport. the word jihad americans -- it means holy war. it doesn't mean that to muslims. it is the idea of making yourself better. children. >> jennifer: top of the news today is that madonna called the president a black muslim and there was all sorts of reaction to that and she put out a very -- a great statement actually. and let's take a listen. >> we have a black muslim in the white house. [ cheering ]
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>> obama is fighting for gay rights. [ cheering ] >> jennifer: she put out a statement following that because there was outrage about it which of course says that i don't care what religion is nor should anyone else in america. that was an ironic statement. >> as muslim comedian, we joke about it. we're kidding. we're mocking the islam -- this is my comedy campaign. who would believe i want to be vice president? >> jennifer: dean obeidallah for vice president. we've been looking forward to having vice presidential candidates here inside "the war room." >> it is an honor to be on. >> jennifer: thank you for coming inside "the war room." we'll be back with news (vo) cenk uygur is many things. >>oh really? >>tax cuts don't create jobs. the golden years as the
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conservatives call them, we had the highest tax rates, and the highest amount of growth, and the highest amount of jobs. those are facts. >>"if you ever raise taxes on the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true! smiles make more smiles. when the chocolate is hershey's.
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>> jennifer: all right. so before signing off tonight, i want to share some very disappointing news with you. you know mike rowe, the awesome host of the show dirty jobs. i love him not as much as i love can you imagine my horror when i was watching tv today and saw him at a jobs roundtable with mitt romney? mike, what the heck are you doin' with a guy who's going to outsource all of the cool jobs you feature on your show? mike didn't go so far as to endorse mitt romney. but he's lost major points in my
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book. he can't just tell me it is a dirty job and someone's got to do it. i'm extending an invitation to mike rowe to come inside "the war room" so we can discuss how bad mitt romney is for american workers. we'll see you all perez is here and carol king talks about why she thinks romney is dangerous. >> cenk: today is a big day on "the young turks." i'm about to call the election. >> mitt romney attacked 47% of americans who paid no income tax. >> romney: president obama and i both care about middle class citizens. >> cenk: there is a lot more. stay right here, i'm about to show you why it is already over. and then there are wonderfully authored moments like this. paul ryan isn't that som
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